Two days after Christmas, I had a Bad Day. Just like the song, you know? Only not really. It wasn't bad so much as it was weird.
Anyway, on the 27th, Brady and his brother, Boone, got up super early and made the drive down to Sacramento. They went to see their Step-Dad, who has recently become seriously ill. Their mom (my beloved mother-in-law!) and their sister Suezy live in Sacramento, as well. So they were able to have some much-needed family time, which was truly wonderful and a good thing in many ways for all of them.
The little B's and I stayed behind to hold the fort down, and on this particular day, we had many, many errands to run. You know how it goes over the holidays - I had been putting a few things off, and so they all culminated into a huge list. As we were going about these things, some strange things happened...
First, we stopped at the recycling center, where the school custodian, "Mr. Jim," whom I have always made a point to be kind to, reprimanded me for putting my bags of plastics in the plastics container. Yes - you read that right. He wanted me to put them in the cardboard containers. What?! Mere seconds after this, a pickup drove by the place Britt and I were standing at a fairly good clip and drove directly into a mud puddle, which splashed right onto our legs and feet, soaking us - twice! First the front tire and then the back. Hmmmm.
Next, I went into the Post Office, which is located in Coburg's Dari Mart. A man was ahead of me going into the store, and for a second he acted like he was going to hold the door open for me, but then he abruptly let it go so that it slammed shut right in front of me. Rude? I thought so.
On we go, though, to the cleaners, where just as I was turning in, a lady in a big car wanted to come out. I stopped and motioned for her to go ahead, but she didn't see me, because she was too busy ramming her car into reverse and scowling her irritation. I smiled and waved at her, but she wouldn't look at me - apparently she was too mad. Okay.
Next, Wilco Farm Store. First, I missed the street on our way there, so we had to go a little different route, which stresses me out a bit, because I don't like being "lost." Once we got into the store, which was for the purpose of exchanging Britt's new cowboy boots for a larger size, we headed to the boot section, which has a counter to assist people. There were two employees working at this counter, and they both ignored us as if we didn't even exist. One was on the computer, the other on the phone, and they never even acknowledged our presence. So we decided to go to the front counter. Here, we found two long lines of people wating to be assisted, which was bizarre, because the parking lot was practically empty when we came into the store mere minutes earlier. We chose a line, and wouldn't you guess, it was the slowest one. Alrighty, whatever, right?
Upon our return home, we changed our gear and headed out to clean the stalls, where we found the final straw in my "crappy" day - Brailey's horse, Tex, had pooped right in the water trough! Really? Really! And not just a water trough, but a full water trough. Which meant we had to get a bucket and scoop the water out so we could clean it so the horses didn't get sick. Lucky for me, Britt was able to do the water scooping while Brailey and I did the poop scooping.
So as I was in Tex's stall, scooping poo, I said to my B's, "Man! This has been the worst day! I can't believe all the bad things that have happened! First," and I started listing everything you just read above. Well my B's surprised me, and instead of agreeing with me, they said, "Mom, you have to turn a negative into a positive. You know, it could have been worse." And then they went on to list all the good things that had happened along with the bad. I was so proud of them (all that talking I've been doing really does sink in, yah?)! And it totally changed our day, although by this point, it was late afternoon.
That evening, we watched a fun movie on TV, and in it, a girl finds a penny on the ground tail's up, which she turns over and gives it to a man she just met that she is attracted to (it was a love story). Later, the guy finds a penny tail's up and does the same thing for her. And at the end of the movie, he still has her penny she gave him, which he shows to her. I'm sure you've heard of "pennies from heaven," which my mother finds all the time. Anyway, after the movie, as I was on my way to tuck the kids into bed, I looked over on the love seat, where Brailey, my very observant child who misses nothing had been sitting to watch the movie and whom I am certain would have noticed this had it been there next to her. What do you think I saw? Yes, a penny was sitting there, head's up! And somehow, I just knew it was a sign that everything was going to be okay. I felt it.
And that, my friends, is how a bad day turned into a good night. And I still have the penny on my nightstand, where I look at it every night and morning, and guess what? Every time I see it, I get that same good feeling.